After years and years and years and years of development, George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road is actually finally just a few months away from arriving in theaters around the globe. Warner Bros. has the sequel set to be released in May 2015, and while that may still seem like a far away date, it's not that bad when you consider that we're getting our first look at the movie now.

Up top we have the cover of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which showcases Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in their Mad Max: Fury Road roles. Hardy is taking over the role of road warrior Max Rockatansky, brought to life in the first three Mad Max films by a young Mel Gibson, but Theron is playing an entirely new character. While there's no mention of how she fits into the plot, the magazine says she will be playing "a bad-ass commander named Imperator Furiosa." At this time it's worth mentioning that there was a time when the proposed sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road was said to be Mad Max: Furiosa.

Pairing with the image, EW also got a few quotes from George Miller, who has written and directed every film in the quadrilogy - a truly rare feat. In their interview, the filmmaker reveals what his initial vision was for Mad Max: Fury Road, and it sounds pretty badass. Said Miller, "I wanted to tell a linear story–a chase that starts as the movie begins and continues for 110 minutes. In this crucible of very intense action, the characters are revealed." So the movie is basically going to start as one big car chase and continue without stopping for the entire run time? Holy hell, count me in.

While the amount of time Mad Max: Fury Road took to get through both development and production is somewhat troubling, I can't help but be really excited for this movie. George Miller has a history of really amping up the weird in his sequels - be it in Babe: Pig In The City or Happy Feet 2 - and I can only imagine the extremes that the next chapter of the Mad Max franchise will go. We already know that they are using a ridiculous number of cars, and hopefully the action and the story can match that scale.

These images certainly pique my anticipation as well. Tom Hardy looks awesome in the post-apocalyptic get-up, and Charlize Theron looks insanely cool, sporting a shaved head and only one arm (what's all that machinery do?!). I can only imagine what they have Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravity, Josh Helman, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wearing.

Update! It looks like my prayers have been answered!... kinda. In addition to the cover, EW has also gotten their hands on the first official batch of stills from the movie. First up we have Nicholas Hoult looking all kinds of skeletal:

Then there’s this group pic, which includes Hoult, Theron, and a few others:

Here’s Tom Hardy kicking some ass Mad Max-style:

And, finally, a whole bunch of cars cruising:

You can see the rest of the stills over at EW’s website.

Mad Max: Fury Road will be in theaters May 15, 2015 - going up against the Elizabeth Banks-directed Pitch Perfect 2 and the Adam Sandler-produced Pixels.